Election Set for Patterson Town Board Seat
Although it’s suppose to be an off year for elections at the town level in Putnam County, Patterson has two candidates fighting for one town board seat this November.
Republican Shawn Rogan and Democrat Luz Shulgin are both vying for a town board seat that was left unguarded after former town councilman Bob McCarthy resigned to take another job within the town. Though Rogan was appointed to fill the position after McCarthy left to assume the role of town building inspector, because the appointment occurred before September, the town must hold a special election for that position.
Supervisor Michael Griffin said while local campaigns for office usually receive little interest, because this one only came into existence in the last few months, he knows it’s even less.
“This is a set of very odd circumstance in the 21 years as town supervisor, this is only the second time I’ve seen a special election to fill an unexpired term from what I recall,” Griffin said. “It’s pretty rare.”
One the candidates running, Shawn Rogan, was a former planning board member and was appointed to the board in July to keep the town board at five members. Rogan said once it was known McCarthy was stepping down, he wrote a letter to the town showing interest in the seat.
“I was seen as a viable candidate to fill that position,” Rogan said, who noted the town board had comfort in knowing that he has served Patterson in a separate role for multiple years, proving himself as someone who has “integrity.”
Rogan said he if he won this year, he would run again the following year to earn a full term.
Shulgin, who ran for the legislative 4 seat in 2012 and a town board seat last year, but lost both times, said she too, submitted her resume and letter of intent to the town expressing her willingness to serve on the board through an appointment, but never heard back. She believes the town board, particularly the supervisor, “steamrolled” the process in order to get Rogan into the spot.
“I have a problem with how they chose the person,” she said. “They didn’t allow an interview process.”
Shulgin went a step further and said even current councilmembers were blinded sided by the appointment and the move was only made because of what the Republican Party dictated.
“There’s a lot of political shenanigans and blocking going on,” Shulgin said. “This needs to stop.”
Griffin confirmed the town has actively requested resumes from residents that want to join the planning board and zoning board, but never advertised for the town board seat.
When asked if Rogan was the only resident to come forward to join the town board, Griffin’s reply was, “We didn’t really seek…Shawn had expressed interest a while back and he’d been chairman of the planning board. Everyone was really comfortable that he’d be a good fit for the board so we didn’t really solicited any input.”
“We didn’t advertise,” Griffin said. “(Or) seek letters of interest for the town board.”
Democratic Commissioner Cathy Croft said neither candidate has to get petitions signed because the election was planned after the signing period was over. Rogan was nominated by Republican Party, while Shulgin was picked by the Democratic Party.
Croft said election law states the town couldn’t appoint Rogan to stay for the rest of McCarthy’s term because the timing of the appointment. Additionally, while many are referring to it as a special election, the polling won’t cost Patterson any additional funds because it is taking place on Election Day.
“Because when there’s a vacancy, depending when the vacancy is, there has to an election for that seat,” Croft said. “You can’t just appoint someone until the end of the term.”
